


Hook, Line, and Sinker

by fairytal3catcher



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: First Meetings, Friendship, Gen, Pre-Canon, Shenanigans, a day out with the favorite mystic boyfriends, fluff? probably, it's also kinda silly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-30
Updated: 2017-08-30
Packaged: 2018-12-21 09:38:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11941383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairytal3catcher/pseuds/fairytal3catcher
Summary: Zen has certain ideas of what a day out fishing with Seven would be like.  Of course, he seems to have forgotten that the first thing to expect from Seven is that you really can't expect anything.// Based on the missed chatroom, "Zen's Expectations" (Day 1) where Zen tells you a secret about Seven and posts that really silly photo.





	Hook, Line, and Sinker

**Author's Note:**

> If you get to see this convo, remember this.  
> Seven is  
>  **good at fishing.**  
>  _Zen has sent a photo ___  
> One time I went fishing with him and he caught all the fish. :c

Zen had a few ideas of what it would be like to spend the day with Seven.  They weren’t that close.  He knew he was really good at computers and he liked to joke around in the messenger, but that was about it.  In fact, he wasn’t entirely sure what Seven looked like—they’d never met in person before because Rika was still arranging their first party.  His profile photo was always a doodle and when he used emojis in the chatroom, his avatar had hair an impossible shade of red.  Zen deemed it unlikely, especially given Seven didn’t seem to get out of the house much.  What would the point be?

Of course, most expectations he had were thrown right out the window as a guy a little shorter than himself greeted him at the pier.  His hair really  _ was  _ a bright firetruck red and he had a certain bounce in his step that seemed too enthusiastic for someone that never slept.  He had a feeling he was about to be wrong about at least a  _ few _ things.  “Heya, Zen!”

He tried not to stare, but the red hair was really throwing him off.  Of course, Rika’s blonde hair and V’s teal locks had, at one time, seemed strange to him too, but that bright of a red?  Wasn’t he supposed to be involved in a secret agency or something?  “...You must be Seven, then?”

“Don’t say--!” Seven gasped dramatically, clutching at his chest.  “You don’t recognize me!?”

He rolled his eyes and smiled.  “I just didn’t expect you to actually look like this is all.  Of course I recognize you, don’t be silly.”

“Oh good, I was about to be really hurt!”  Seven spun on his heel, waving for Zen to follow him.  “Thanks for asking me to hang out!  I haven’t really been out of the house in...”  He stopped and Zen nearly crashed into him, counting on his fingers.  Seven shrugged.  “Like, five and a half weeks.”

“ _ What _ ?!”

“I have food delivered to my place,” he dismissed, continuing on.  “Anyway, I’ve been wanting to meet you.  You’re totally going to be a celebrity!”

“Is that why?”

“Definitely.  If I butter you up now, I can get your autograph, and then when you’re really famous, I’ll sell it off and be super rich!”  He punched the air and gave a solid, “yahoo!”

Zen tried not to laugh.  There was no way someone was  _ actually  _ like this offline, was there?  Seven couldn’t be real.  “You don’t have to be nice just for an autograph.  I’m not a big name right now and I wouldn’t mind doing it if you really wanted me to.”

Seven waved his hand.  “I might ask later, then.  I have something big planned, so I’d rather you stay on your toes for that one.”

“Huh?  What?”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s nothing bad.”

“But—“

“Do you know where we can get fishing poles?  I’m just walking in some direction.  I’ve never been here before, believe it or not!”

“Uh—Yeah?  I think there’s a rental shop ahead.  I would’ve brought fishing poles if I’d had any, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, hyung!  I don’t have any poles, either, it’s okay!”

He never thought it was too weird for someone younger than him to use an honorific at him, but on Seven, it seemed odd.  Actually, now that he was with Seven in real life, he was coming to the conclusion that he was generally a pretty strange guy.  Be it his mannerisms or ramblings, or maybe his general way of existing, it seemed more like the actions of a cartoon character and not a real person.  He pressed his lips as they entered a tackle shop, watching Seven buzz around the store, checking out all the different poles and lures.  Was it ADHD or something?  Or was he just eccentric, period?

Seven, in his craze, managed to pick up two rental rods and a couple other supplies they would need while Zen found the bait and the line.  When they got the register, Zen pulled out his card and paid for the rentals, as well as their supplies.  Seven tried to offer to pay, but he shook his head.  “I asked you to go fishing with me, so I’ve got this.”

They walked back to the pier, fishing rods and grocery bags with supplies in tow, but before they could go down to the shore, Seven had pushed him along to a carry-out place for lunch.  He said he’d only be a moment—that even though it was  _ two in the afternoon, _ he hadn’t had anything to eat yet.  Zen didn’t have the heart to leave this nut-ball to his own devices, so he walked into the restaurant with him and paid for his meal, too.  As Seven animatedly ate his noodles on the way down to the shore, he was back at his previous question—was Seven even real?

From where they sat under the docks, Seven was finishing his meal as Zen tried to get the line, sinkers, hooks, bobbers, and bait all in order for their fishing rods.  His hands fumbled with the knots and he cursed himself for not being perfect at this.  He tried to remember what his brother had taught him so long ago, but his memory was fuzzy as he tied another weak knot over the sinker.

“I’ve got this,” Seven offered, setting down his cup of noodles.

“What?  Didn’t you say you’d never been fishing before?”

Seven nodded and took the rod, then smiled.  “I thought I’d read up on it a little bit before we got here.  Just in case.”  He examined the line, then nodded.  “Well, to start with, you’ve put the stuff in the wrong order...  And these knots!”  Seven sighed dramatically, then cut the line with some scissors.  The kid dropped to the rocks and started to fix the line, and in no time, handed it back to him, almost perfectly rigged.

“ _ Dude _ .  How much reading did you do?  I’ve been fishing before and I couldn’t do it that fast.”

Seven shrugged.  “I skimmed a wikihow article this morning...”

“Damn, you really  _ must  _ be a genius, then.  No wonder you’ve got the job you do.”

Seven beamed and gave a thumbs up.  “That’s me!  Seven Zero Seven, super hacker genius!  Glad to make this trip a little less impossible~”

He laughed a little as Seven fixed the second rod for them, then went back to his noodles.  Out of courtesy, he didn’t start fishing until Seven was done with his lunch, instead taking in the lake.  It was a beautiful day and he could just  _ feel  _ that they were going to get a bite.  Maybe once this was done, if they’d managed to catch a fish or two, they could head back to his place and make dinner.  It’d definitely beat Seven’s junk-food habits for once, plus he’d be able to ensure Seven got a decent meal if he cooked for him.  ...Even if he wasn’t that great of a cook.

When Seven was done with lunch, they took out their rods, casted out, and waited together, quietly.  Seven’s leg shook as they sat, almost as if he was nervous or anticipating something.  Zen, though?  He couldn’t imagine what Seven was so worked up over.  They were in a pretty quiet spot—no one else was below the pier with them and there was hardly any traffic on the streets above at two thirty on a Tuesday.  He felt completely calm, but in the end, he probably didn’t have nearly as much to worry about as his friend.

His thoughts about it were interrupted as Seven’s bobber sunk and the boy cheered, starting to reel in the fish.  He watched as the rod bent and Seven pulled, bringing in their first catch of the day.  It was a nicely sized fish, if Zen said so himself.  Seven laughed as it flopped around on the line.  “So cool!  That was easier than I thought!  What should we do with it?”

“Do you want to keep it?” he asked, reeling in his line.

“I don’t know if I’m allowed to keep pets...”

“No, no.  I mean, do you want to take it home so you can cook it?”

He nearly laughed at the brief horror on Seven’s face.  “I—“  The look fell away in a moment, and back was his excitement and charm.  “Why not!  Fish sounds like a nice dinner!”

He nodded and set his rod down, then gently reached out to the fish.  It flopped around and nearly smacked him in the face and he huffed.  “Right.  Why don’t you grab one of those plastic bags?”

Seven wedged the rod in a rock and went over to their supplies, placing their various items in one bag and returning with an empty one.  By this time, the fish had stopped fighting so much and he was able to get it off the hook.  With one final violent flop, the fish landed in the bag and his friend was cheering.  “First catch!  So cool!  We’re having fish toniiiight!” he sang, lifting his pole from the rocks.

Zen casted out again as his friend baited his hook, then returned to his spot.  Seven casted out, landing not too far out from Zen’s bobber, then sat down.

“Hey Zen?”

“Yeah?”

“How did you learn how to fish?”

He smiled a little.  “My brother taught me when I was really little.  We’d go out to a pond near our house sometimes and fish.  It was catch and release, but we still had a lot of fun.”  The smile fell thinking about his older brother, who had long since stopped talking with him reasonably.  He shook his head and refused to get upset by it.  Seven was better company anyway, even if he was weird.  “It’s been a really long time, but I still like to fish.”

“You have a brother?  That’s—!“  Seven was cut off by his bobber sinking, surprising them both.  “Oh!  I think I’ve got another one!”

“What?!  Already?”

Seven was smiling widely as he pulled and reeled in another fish, a little smaller than the last.  “All right!” he cheered.  “Two!  What a lucky day!”

He laughed a little and reeled in his line, which still hadn’t had any bites.  “I’ll give you that, luck is definitely on your side!” 

As before, he took the fighting fish off the line and put it in the plastic bag with the now-very-dead fish Seven had caught earlier.  He decided to replace his bait as Seven did, then they both casted out again.  Seven was smiling and humming, swaying in time as their bobbers bounced with the ripples of the lake.  A little more time passed this time before anything happened, and he was happy that when it happened, it happened to him.  The moment his bobber went under, he was up on his feet and reeling it in.  From the feel of the line, he could tell it wasn’t going to be as big as Seven’s last fish, but still, he hoped.  He had hope up until he brought it all the way in, finding a small goldfish wiggling at the end of the line.

“Nice catch!” Seven cheered, not a hint of irony in his tone.  Zen had absolutely no idea if he was joking or not and it frazzled him the slightest bit. 

“You’re too kind—this fella won’t be good for any meal.  I’m going to let the little guy go.”

“A true animal lover!  A gentle soul!  No wonder everyone loves you, you’ve got such a kind heart~”

That time, Zen could tell he was messing around.  “Hey, don’t mock me,” he laughed, taking the small fish off the hook.  He tossed it back to the water and got more bait.  “I know a good fish when I see one is all!”

Seven laughed as Zen casted out again.  “I believe you.  I don’t know much about fish, actually.”

He shrugged.  “Me neither.  I think it’s mostly important to know these two facts,” he claimed, feigning seriousness.  “One!  They’re fish if they’re in the water.”

“Am I starting to rub off on you?” Seven asked excitedly.

Quickly, he shook his head.  “I’m just educating you on fish.  That’s all.  The other thing you should look for is if the fish look like the ones at the market.  If it’s at the market, it’s probably edible.”

“So what are the fish I caught?”

“No idea.  They’re familiar, though, and like I said, that’s all that counts.”

“What if they end up tasting like garbage?”

“Then we’ll go to the market and buy fish that don’t taste like garbage.”

“Alright then.”

They went back to near silence as clouds and time passed.  He noticed Seven’s humming tapered off at some point, as did his swaying and shaking.  Maybe he was finally calming down.  If he was like this when he wasn’t so hyper, maybe he wasn’t such a weird guy after all.

It was an entertaining thought while it lasted.

When they least expected it, Seven’s bobber went under, and hard.  “Oh  _ shit _ .”  Seven got up and started tugging and reeling, but it was obvious that this one was a fighter.  “It’s pulling so hard!  I don’t know if I can get him!”

“Keep pulling!  You can do it!” he shouted.

Seven reeled more, taking a step back as he tried to pull the fish in.  His friend grunted as he pulled harder, bringing the string in more and more until finally, with one final pull, the fish came launching out of the water.  Seven was cheering as this massive fish was flying through the air, but all he could do was stare completely in shock, mouth agape.  This fish was a small behemoth.  How the  _ hell  _ had Seven managed to catch something like that with his  _ rental  _ rod, a small hook, and just a single worm for bait?

“What the  _ fuck _ ?” he managed.

Seven was beaming as the fish snapped itself upward and hit him in the face.  Instead of cursing the fish, Seven just laughed it off.  “This is so. so. cool.”

“This fish is bigger than my  _ head _ !  How did you catch this?!”

“I... don’t know!  I just kinda let the line rest and then... boom!  Fish!  Fish for weeks!”

The fish angrily flopped around on the rock and hit Seven’s leg.  There was no way he was going to try to get that guy into a bag until it wasn’t moving anymore.  “This is insane.  I didn’t know this kind of fish got to be this size!”

“Fish for days!  Fish for weeks!” Seven cheered, dancing along.  “I’ll never have to order out again!”

The fish finally stopped moving and Zen carefully took the hook from its mouth, then placed the fish in the bag.  At this rate, they’d have to go home soon—there would be too much fish to carry back.  He grimaced, wishing he could catch even one decent fish.  He was supposed to be the veteran here— _he_ was the one who was supposed to be showing Seven how it was done.

Alas, though, that didn’t seem to be in the cards.

Seven casted out again and Zen was about ready to accept defeat.

“Hey, Seven.”

“Yeah?”

“There’s definitely no way you’ve never been fishing before.”

“This is my first time, cross my heart!”

He rolled his eyes, then went back to staring at his bobber, which simply wasn’t going to sink.  “Spill it.  Who taught you?  An older brother?”

“I don’t have an older brother.”

“Your aunt?  An uncle?”

“Nope, no aunts or uncles, either.”

“It had to have been your dad, then.”

Seven hesitated, and when he responded, his voice wasn’t quite as enthusiastic.  “...Don’t have a dad.”

His eyebrows furrowed.  “What?”

In a moment, the awkwardness turned in a different direction.  Seven nervously laughed a little, then ruffled his hair.  “I mean... I’ve never met him.  Probably isn’t a good fisher, anyway.”

Zen felt weird knowing that about Seven, so he looked away and didn’t press it.  “Uh... right.  I’m sorry to hear that.”

Seven returned to his strange self in half a moment.  “It must have been God that gave me this gift!”

“God?”

“Yep!”  There was no elaboration, no explanation.  Zen added this to his mental list of ‘what makes Seven weird.’

“Anyway...” he said, hoping to put that awkward moment behind them, “how do you like to eat fish?”

“Cooked!”

He tried not to look exhausted by that response.  He really did.

“I’m kidding.  I think it’s good in soups.  Sushi isn’t bad either!  Um... It’s also good as a main dish.  I don’t really care how it’s prepared.”

“Maybe we can find some recipes and figure something out.”

“That’s a good idea!”

“If nothing else, we could always sell them to the market and use the money for a different dinner.”

“That doesn’t sound bad, either.  We could buy Honey Butter Chips and Dr. Pepper!  A meal fit for kings!“

“Nope, we’re keeping the fish,” he decided.  “That’s not a real meal.  A proper diet is important and—“  His bobber went under and his train of thought completely derailed.  “Aw yeah!” he cheered, pulling his rod back and reeling in the line.  “ _ Please  _ let this be good!”

“Go Zen, go!” Seven chanted.

He pulled and reeled in, not entirely sure what to think of what he was bringing from the water.  He hadn’t expected a tiny goldfish to put up so much fight, so for all he knew, this could just be some seaweed with a bit of a vendetta.  He reeled and reeled up until a small fish showed up on the end of his line, looking a lot like the ones Seven had caught.  The pride that swelled in his chest at the sight of this little fish would have been embarrassing at another point, but hell—they’d been out there for almost forty minutes and this was better than what he expected to catch.

“That’s a nice fish, too!”

He nodded, giving a confident smile.  “What is that you said?  Fish for days?”

“With this one, definitely fish for weeks!”

Though this wasn’t nearly as impressive as Seven’s beginner’s luck, he liked the small boost to his ego.  He unhooked the fish, added it to their bag, then baited again and casted out with his friend.  For about another hour, they chatted idly between both of them catching another fish each, then deciding to call it a day.  The bag was heavy, Zen had to admit, as they trekked back to the tackle shop to return the rods.  The owner gave them an extra bag and some ice to keep the fish on, which Zen thanked her for, then they were on their way.

“So where do you live?” he asked.  “I want to know if it’s easier to take this to my place or yours.”

“That’s a secret~  Anyway, it was a bit of a drive and I’d hate to have dead fish in my baby.”

“Your... baby?”  He hesitated for a moment, confused, then he understood.  “Oh right, your car.  Uh... I took public transit to get here, but it only took about twenty minutes.  We can just go to my house—there’s a grocery store nearby, too.”

Seven was about to say something, but then his phone buzzed loudly, distracting him.  In a moment, his friend had his phone out and was reading the messages.  His happy-go-lucky nature seemed to falter when he shoved the phone back into his pocket.  “Hey, Zen... I feel really bad about this, but I just got a call from work.  They need me to come in.”

He couldn’t help but feel let down, strangely enough.  “I guess another time, then?”

“We’ll have to, I’m sorry.  Maybe we can meet up tomorrow and cook the fish!”

He frowned a little.  “Actually... I have another rehearsal tomorrow.  The whole day is busy for me.”

“The day after?”

“I don’t know if the fish will keep that long in the fridge.”

Seven looked let down, too.  “We could freeze them?”

“My freezer is pretty small,” he told him, feeling bad for yet another excuse.  “Maybe we’d be better to sell them to the market now and go out fishing again another time.  They’re better fresh, anyway.”

“You’re right.  We’ll come again before it gets too much colder!”

“Yeah.  That sounds fun, I’d like that.”

“I’ll catch you later then!” Seven said, waving as he rushed off.

Zen sighed and trekked over to the market where he sold the fish for a little more than what he paid for Seven’s impromptu lunch, then went home.  Seven was strange, yes, but he was actually pretty good company off the messenger, too.  Of course, that didn’t stop him from being beyond perplexed when he received a photo of Seven catching that giant fish that night, but he waved it off.  Weird or not, it was a good day, expectations aside.

Maybe if he was lucky, they’d end up being pretty good friends after all.  He smiled.  Given what he’d seen that day, luck might just be on their side.


End file.
